How to prune a honey locust tree

Why cut acacias?

July 27, 2018

“They cut all the acacias along the street along our house, right under the stump! This beauty has been destroyed! That's why they do it, one might say? You journalists, why don't you write about it?!” - a resident of Ust-Ilimsk is indignant . ..

Sawn bushes on the street. Dreamers

Many acquaintances told me about sawing off the green part of the acacias in some parts of the city. For me, the most unsightly picture of bare lawns causes bewilderment and regret. Walk around the city! And you will see completely bare stumps in place of lush, rich bushes. Bald and sad - this is how you can describe the picture that opens up to your eyes. Acacia alleys along Geroiv Truda (1st and 2nd microdistricts), along Dreamers (4th microdistrict) fell under the knife ...

Who did this? What for? Shrubs were cut down not in the local area, but in the municipal area. It is logical to assume that this was done under a municipal contract by contractors who maintain green areas, footpaths in green areas and sidewalks along the perimeters of microdistricts. But, as it turned out, this year it was the pruning and formation of crowns of shrubs on lawns along city roads (between the part and sidewalks) are carried out by other contractors: Avtodor LLC on the right bank, and IP Tarasova on the left bank. As explained on the city website, these works are included in municipal contracts for the maintenance of public roads. It also says that “the overgrown branches of plants close the view on city highways and interfere with the free movement of citizens along footpaths and sidewalks, besides, they worsen the appearance of city streets. Therefore, in order to put green spaces in order, it is necessary to trim them: all randomly protruding branches are removed from shrubs, and the crowns are given the same height and width.

Well, we can say that the task was completed and exceeded. Not only "chaotic protruding branches" have been removed - all branches have been removed from the bushes! And the crowns are indeed given the same height. Only the crowns, in fact, are no longer there, there are only bare stems of acacias sticking out of the ground. Why were they so robbed? And will such a total pruning harm the shrubs?

As the regulatory documents say (for example, the still current Order of the Gosstroy of the Russian Federation dated 15-12-99 153 “On approval of the rules for the creation, protection and maintenance of green spaces in the cities of the Russian Federation . ..” and other documents), when caring for urban plantings, in particular shrubs, the following types of pruning are used: sanitary, molding, rejuvenating. During sanitary pruning of the crown, old, diseased, drying and damaged branches are removed from the shrub. It is recommended to carry out it annually, during the entire growing season. However, it is not recommended to remove a large number of large branches at the same time! Forming pruning is done to even out the height of plants, to give the crown shape. It should be carried out in early spring, before bud break, or in autumn - after leaf fall. When forming pruning, up to a third of the length of the growth of the previous year is cut off. The deepest pruning is rejuvenating, it stimulates the formation of young shoots that create a new crown. It is made for trees and shrubs, which lose their decorative qualities with age, cease to give annual growth, and form dry peaks. With such pruning, the branches are shortened by 50% -70% of the length, but this must be done in two steps: some of the branches are cut in the first year, the rest in the second. Anti-aging pruning is done in early spring, before the start of sap flow.

As you can see, what was done with acacias in Ust-Ilimsk does not fit into any of the listed types of pruning - neither in terms of the nature, nor in terms of the timing of the work. This was confirmed (on condition of anonymity) by an employee of one of the Ust-Ilimsk enterprises, who, by occupation, takes care of shrubs and has knowledge and experience in this area.

This is one hundred percent non-sanitary pruning, in which dead branches are removed. All branches have been removed here! If we talk about rejuvenation, then in this case the acacia is cut off and on a height of 10-15 centimeters from the ground, but only in a certain period: either in early spring or autumn. You see, there is such a thing - sap flow, this is when juice flows through the plant, when it is already all green. At this time, such an extreme "haircut" is not carried out for most plants, acacias - that's for sure. Usually acacia is cut to a height of two-thirds, i.e. if the plant is a meter high, then the maximum that can be removed is 30 cm, and then - from the newly grown branches. The acacias we are talking about are cut off, according to my estimates, up to 60-70% of the length, - explained Irina K.

She drew attention to the fact that cuts on the left stumps are not protected (according to the rules, cuts with a diameter of more than 2 cm are covered with special compounds immediately after cutting). BUT also, that pruning was done mostly in the heat, that after such a deep pruning, fertilizing and watering must be carried out. None of this has been done. All this can not but affect the plant.

The plant is under stress, it will be more difficult for it to get back into shape. Of course, acacia is a plant that recovers, and most bushes will recover someday. But the fact that the pruning was carried out by unskilled personnel, and the plants were subjected to a certain ny harm - this is unequivocal, - said Irina K.

I decided to ask the contractor what kind of pruning they do? Olga Artyushenko, director of Avtodor LLC, said that the terms of reference that her company received from the DZhP technical department indicated a height of 80 cm. She complained that it was actually impossible to cut bushes higher, they were too tall and lignified, and that it was very laborious Job. It’s hard to argue here, we haven’t cut acacia for a long time, and besides, Avtodor, like other contractors, probably doesn’t have either a special tool for trimming and shaping shrubs, or personnel trained in this particular business.

PTO engineer Olesya Chernysheva reported that the wording in the terms of reference was as follows: “pruning and rejuvenation of shrubs” (in fact, acacias have not been cut in the city for a long time!), And the height to which acacias were cut was not indicated ... When asked, where did the number 80 cm come from and why exactly 80 cm of bare branches should be left, Olesya Leonidovna explained that when the contractors had a question about how high they should cut the bushes, it was decided to bring all the acacias to one type.

“We already have trimmed shrubs, for example, on the median strip…” - said Olesya Leonidovna. This argument, frankly, confused me. Landings on the median strip and shrubs on the lawn that separates the roadway from residential development are, to put it mildly, incomparable things. The main purpose of the dividing strip is the constructive allocation of an impassable section of the road, the impossibility of using it for movement by either pedestrians or vehicles. Thus, road safety is ensured. The task of green spaces on lawns separating residential development from the highway inside the settlement is different.

“Green spaces on the streets and roads must protect the population from noise, dust, exhaust gases from automobiles and meet architectural and artistic requirements. ... For better isolation of buildings from traffic ... transport, trees and shrubs with a dense crown are used, ”clause 5.1 reads. SNiP II-K.3-62.

So what kind of pruning is used in Ust-Ilimsk? Obviously, there will be no answer, because, as it seems to me, there is none. They cut it because it needs to be cut, and it doesn't matter how it will be. And not by malicious intent did our green lawns become bald, but because there are no specialists in the city to care for urban plantings - neither in the municipality, nor in contractor companies. And this is our common problem. Having conceived the total pruning of shrubs on the lawn, no one, most likely, thought that acacias are not only a lawn decoration (although from an aesthetic point of view, I think the city was also damaged). The acacia hedge reduced the noise level from the roads and also partially absorbed the dust from the roads. Of course, in a year or two the plants will recover, come to their senses and give new shoots. By the way, it will also need to be formed into a beautiful crown. Let's hope that by this time we will have an appropriate specialist in the city. We can only wait.

Victoria Galiulina, Vestnik UI LPK

Sergey (27 Jul 2018 at 16:50)

And then they will take on little people. ..

Kirill (July 27, 2018 at 03:53 pm)

They sawed all the trees, now they took up the bushes, and then what? Will you uproot all the grass? All the greenery in the city was destroyed... This summer is somehow anomalous and somehow affects the mayor's office in a special way (or whoever is involved in this felling)

Pruning trees and shrubs

Woody Plants - Shrubs, trees, vines need pruning to look good, bloom profusely, and not overgrow. Pruning has some of the most mysterious rumors that scare away even experienced gardeners, but don't worry, pruning is a very simple technique if you follow a few basic rules.

Trimming tools

Prefer sharp and clean tools. When buying them, give priority to quality. Remember: pruning tool should cut, not crush wood .

The main tool is pruner . When buying, make sure that it fits your hand. Secateurs come in different types: cutting with curved or curved blades, chopping with a straight blade.

Secateurs cut shoots with a diameter of 10-12 cm and dry branches up to 8 cm in diameter.